Day 1 complete....

  Clarksburg, West Virginia, United States
Sunday, July 8, 2007

Well, day 1 is complete and it turned out to be a great one.  After setting out at 12:45 PM from Columbia Tile and Marble, we took route 100 to route 29 north, eventually getting on Interstate 70 (we wanted to get out of the Baltimore/DC area before we hooked up on route 50). 
 
After settling in on 70, it only took 5-10 minutes for Mr. Murphy to show up on the back of my bike and blow a fuse that controlled by gauges and turn signals.  Heather got a great shot of Mike and I assessing the situation on the side of 70. 

aj - Fuse blows

 



We got back on the road without making any repairs (who wants to spend any time on the side of a highway - I decided to fix it later once I had more time and better working conditions) and Mike took point so he could manage the group's speed.
 
We took route 340 south towards Charlestown that took us through Harpers Ferry, WV.  These pictures are the 2 consecutive bridges you cross in Harpers Ferry.....it was a busy Saturday on the river.

ak - Harpers Ferry bridge #1

al - Harpers Ferry - coming up to bridge #2

 







After following 340 through Charlestown, we hit route 7 West into Winchester, VA.  We stopped at a Brew Pub for a late lunch and I had a chance to replace my blown fuse.....it is nice to see the gauges back in action.....
 
The restaurant was less than 100 yards from route 50 so it was very easy to "drop in" to our cross country path. 

at - Our drop in on route 50

 
We actually were able to get some shots from the road, including all the riders.  Do not try this at home.  Needless to say, taking a shot while riding can be tricky, but Heather had an advantage as a rider and took some great shots from the backseat.

ax - Richie killin it on the Street Glide

aw - Mike and Heather..

ay - Me

 
Route 50 through West Virginia could be some of the best riding on the east coast.  Over and over we got to climb the Appalachian Mountains, only to come back down the backside.  The climbs and descents combined long sweeping turns and tight switch-backs, some of which were taken at 15 mph.  It was like our own personal roller coaster.
 
We went through Gore, VA, Romney, Junction, New Creek, Mount Storm, Aurora, Erwin, Grafton, and finally tucked in at our final stop - Clarksburg, WV.
 
A nice heavy dinner and a few beers and we called it a day.....we plan on an early start tomorrow and would like to get to my cousin Kurt's house in Cincinnati by early afternoon.